A New Diet to Help Children and Teenagers Appreciate Math and Science

    TUCSON, AZ, March 09, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The National Math and Science Initiative reports that only "29 percent of American fourth grade students, a third of eighth grade students, and barely 18 percent of 12th grade students perform at or above the proficient level in science." (http://www.nationalmathandscience.org/index.php/the-problem/the-problem.html) The National Academies reports an unacceptable level of performance for students, nationally, in math and science (http://www7.nationalacademies.org/Giving/Gordon_Ambach_Education_Presentation.html). Anecdotally, children and teenagers complain about having to learn math and science principles because of the lack of immediate application to their lives.

Also, America has a major childhood obesity epidemic with approximately 18% of 12-19 year olds being obese (it was 5% in 1980) (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/childhood/index.htm). The World Health Organization says the childhood obesity epidemic is a global phenomenon (http://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/).

A book published in May 2008 by Michael Dow, The Pen and Paper Diet, is based on the proven idea that the key to managing one's weight is using A Personal Daily Calorie Budget. By tracking calorie consumption using simple math in about 3 minutes a day, a person can consume the types of food and beverages he or she likes and manage their weight. Once a person develops the basic skill of a daily calorie budget, he or she can then focus on eating more healthy and exercising more. Michael used research from the National Academy of Sciences, USDA and CDC in his book.

"Although there has been limited research for estimated daily calorie requirements for children and teenagers," says Dow, "parents can consult with their family physician or contact a dietitian to determine a proper calorie budget. The issue is the human body needs an increasing amount of calories per day due to growth until about age 19. After that, when all primary variables involved with maintaining an ideal weight are controlled for (activity level and muscle mass), the human body begins a slow descent in required daily calorie consumption until death, sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass with aging) or other health disorder."

Dow bought a license to republish estimated calorie requirements by the National Academy of Sciences in his book. Until more thorough research is completed for children and teenagers, it may be best for overweight and obese children to consume about 300 less calories than their average daily consumption. Once they reach a stable weight or plateau and it is within an ideal BMI, they can then start increasing their calorie budget annually until age 19.

The Pen and Paper Diet provides a safe and cheap solution to address both the childhood obesity epidemic and academic decline of children in math and science. "Even kids need and want useful or immediately applicable information like adults in our information age," says Dow, "a calorie budget is a small step to meeting that need since it uses basic science and math. Maybe after an older child or teenager has been able to manage their weight using simple science, they be more interested in other science areas." ('If basic science can help me control my weight, what else would knowing more science ideas do for me.')

Visit http://www.ThePenAndPaperDiet.com for more info.

About Dow Creative Enterprises, LLC

Dow Creative Enterprises, LLC is a book and website publishing company. For further information, please email [email protected].

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